Millennium Development Goals

At the start of this millennium, world leaders unanimously committed themselves to fight poverty and hunger, gender inequality, environmental degradation, and HIV/AIDS, while improving access to education, health care and clean water, all by 2015. The wide-ranging commitments encompassed in the Millennium Declaration’s accompanying eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) came with 8 goals, 60 indicators and 21 targets to monitor progress. The MDGs spurred concerted action across the globe, leading to impressive results in many areas, such as lifting more than a billion people out of extreme poverty.

Working to reach the MDGs: Some highlights of ILO activities and impact

Want to find out more about how the ILO works with the MDGs? Take a look at this slideshow which illustrates - through words and photos - how the ILO's work has benefited women, men and their families all over the world.

#1- Tackling povertyIn Peru, the youth employment action plan (2009-2012) developed by the government with technical support from the ILO has assisted more than 260,000 disadvantaged young women and men in finding a job.

#2 EducationAs a result of the Tackling Child Labour Through Education (TACKLE) project more than 11,000 girls and boys in Zambia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Jamaica and Fiji have been taken out of or prevented from entering into the worst forms of child labour by offering alternate education opportunities.

# Protecting mothersThe ILO has assisted more than 20 countries in ensuring maternity benefits. For instance, in Jordan, the ILO has carried out an actuarial validation for the maternity scheme set up in 2011, which now gives insured women the right to paid maternity leave – at 100 per cent of their earnings – for up to 10 weeks.

#7 Protecting our environmentAn ILO-UNEP project in Viet Nam, where 1,722 farmers were trained in planting, cultivation and harvesting, increased the availability of seedlings for 478 farmers through nursery gardens and demonstration areas. Each household reported an additional income of approximately VND 600,000 per month as a result of the project.

#8 PartneringOver the past 15 years, the ILO has signed almost 250 public-private partnerships representing about USD 70 million in funding. Today, partnerships with companies have been on the increase and now cover a wider range of decent work themes, which shows a broad acceptance of decent work as a global development goal.

How the ILO contributes to the 8 Millenium Development Goals

The ILO works towards eradicating extreme poverty and hunger in a number of ways, such as: promoting youth employment, ensuring that decent work is included in national Poverty Reduction Strategies and by tracking progress on employment in countries. Today, roughly 30% of ILO projects target the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

The ILO promotes gender equality and empowers women by tracking progress on women’s work outside of agriculture; offering capacity-building and guidance to constituents on equality and mainstreaming gender into all activities and development cooperation projects.

The ILO works towards reducing child mortality by focusing on working mothers, health care workers, combating child labour and extending social protection. The workplace is an important entry point for information, education and health services relating to children’s health.

The ILO works to improve maternity protection and health through the workplace to prevent work from threatening the reproductive health of pregnant and nursing women and to ensure that maternity does not jeopardize their economic security.

The ILO combats HIV/AIDS by protecting workers from HIV infection and facilitating easy access to care, treatment and support, and social protection for all those living with or affected by HIV and AIDS.

The ILO works towards the development of a global partnership by promoting policies that keep decent and productive employment, social protection, social dialogue and rights at the centre of development concerns.